St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-08
A BARBAROUs CUSTOM.
Fearful Sights in STEAMBOAT at
Wild Celebration by Howling
ENanattnG


Wild Celebration by HOwling
Fanatics.
The ambassador, his secretaries and
suite, and some of the leaders of the
Persian community, with a sprinkling
of foreigners, invited like ourselves,
filled the reserved seats and were cOur-
teouSly informed by the secretaries of
the embassy, i'll perfect French, of
all the circumstances and incidents
connected with this national cele-
bration. says writer in the Epoch,
describing the celebration of HaSSan
and Hussein in StambOul. Shortly after
we were seated we heard wild shouts
and clamorS outside, and presently saw
a band of Withholding men bearing
alOft floating maSchallahS. They entered
in marching time, and announced the
approach Of Il numerous procession OF
1.-The faithful" In they poured, pre-
ceded by the Persian priests, lugubri-
OUSly chanting with nasal melody kind
of funeral song, reciting the tragic death
of iaSSan and HuSSein, with maledic-
lions OH their assassin, Pezid, doomed
TO an immortality of infamy.
Then suddenly appeared at the
termination of the chant a .ghostly
looking crew of men,, clad i'll
long white robes with uncovered heads
and naked swords i'll their hands. These
men numbered many hundreds and
were termed Nazirs-a Persian name
Signifying those conSecrated to God,
being dedicated by their parents from
infancy to observe the ceremOnialS and
the faStS concentrating the deaths
of HaSSan and HuSSein. They tlOuriShed
their naked swords, claShed them wildly
together and occasionally turned the
points on themselves or their compan-
sn,,c fnanS hrnn G
until the blood flowed and discol-
ored their white robes. They then
dragged each other by the hand,
passed round and round, hoarsely
! reciting mourning hymns, with wild i'll
vocatiOnS of the names of the martyrs,
Hussein and Hassan. These men
looked really like demons under the red
glare of the torches borne by their COM
panionS, who, to the humber of several
thousand, passed i'm after the singers,
often wiping the bloody browS OF the
fanatics.
The horror of this fearful scene was
Magniiied by The dull, humping sound
made by the self-hagcllationS Of another
band of fanatics who accompanied the
| 3%ugdsmpn. These men befabOrcd their
broad backs with scourgcS made of iron
| chains, the blows reSounding with a
! sickening sound. The secretaries told
| us That the DacKS OF UncSc men,
from the annual repetition OF this scour-
aging, and from their daily habit OF
carrying heavy burdens, as hamais or
pDrters, we're actually moro like iron
than flesh. After the Nazirs came a
typical procession of the flight of the
martyrs families, with the tents, the
banners and household goods, and even
the children pcrched upon horses
which formed part of the show.
Wild wailings of "Oh, Hassan !!
Oh, Hassan!" accompanied these, as
though the incidents commemOrated had
occurred not 600 years but six hours ago.
| One of the most curious, and at the same
time one of the most repulsive features
of the spectacle, was the appearance i'll
the procession. with the fanatical NaZirS,
of large school of boys of ten to four
teen years of age, some of whom gashed
themselves with knives and were thus
prepared for fanaticiSm.